Find out if Your Windows is 64-bit or 32-bit

During software installation you sometimes need to know the bit count of your Windows operating system. Learn how to find it out.

“My computer is 32 bit or 64 bit?”, asked Clara when she was trying to install a software on her computer. When she went to website to download the software, she was asked to choose between a 32 bit version and a 64 bit version. Clara was confused about which one to choose.

Bit count (64 bit or 32 bit) of your Windows indicate how much data your computer can process at a given point of time. Higher the bit count, faster the computer. Sometimes, especially while installing software, it becomes important to know the bit count of Windows that you are running. Here is how you can find it out.

Windows 8

Open Windows Explorer.

Right click on Computer and select Properties

The resulting window will show will show the bit count under System type head

Windows Vista, Windows 7

Click Start, type system in the Start Search box, and then click System Information in the Programs list.

When System Summary is selected in the navigation pane, the operating system is displayed as follows:

For a 64-bit version operating system: x64-based PC appears for the System type under Item.

For a 32-bit version operating system: x86-based PC appears for the System type under Item.

Windows XP

Click Start, and then click Run.

Type winmsd.exe, and then click OK.

When System Summary is selected in the navigation pane, locate Processor under Item in the details pane. Note the value.

If the value that corresponds to Processor starts with x86, the computer is running a 32-bit version of Windows.

If the value that corresponds to Processor starts with ia64 or AMD64, the computer is running a 64-bit version of Windows.

So, do you now know if your computer and Windows is 32 bit or 64 bit?! I hope this would help and save you some time in finding answer to a simple yet seemingly puzzling question! Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions on this topic. I will be happy to try and help you. Thank you for using TechWelkin.

Lalit Kumar is the Principal Author and Founder of TechWelkin. He is a web explorer and he enjoys finding useful information on the Internet. He loves to put things together to create a bigger solution. Lalit is passionate about technology, languages and literature. You can contact Lalit via email (techwelkin [at] gmail [dot] com) or Facebook (facebook.com/techwelkin).